The meeting will take place in the fall because the project's design team needs more time to work on concepts submitted by village residents and other invested in the outcome.

SOUTH NYACK – A much-anticipated meeting on how the new Tappan Zee Bridge's bike and walking path will connect to the village has been pushed back.

The session is now expected to take place in the fall. South Nyack officials had been hopeful the Tappan Zee project team would brief residents on the different concepts by the end of this month but learned on Thursday that the engineers needed more time to develop the ideas.

"This is a little disappointing," Mayor Bonnie Christian said. "It seems like they're being earnest so I hope there's no hidden agenda to this."

Residents and members of the village Tappan Zee task force have been trying to come up with ways to integrate the shared path into the largely residential village, while accounting for parking, the need for restrooms and increased traffic on neighborhood streets.

"We're all eager to see what the engineers are coming up with and what's even possible," said Connie Coker, a member of the South Nyack task force.

There are about a dozen concepts under consideration, but some are elements within the big picture options.

For months, there has been a populist call to incorporate Interchange 10 on the Thruway to serve as the path's terminus but there are a number of challenges, including that five acres of the property is being used a staging area for construction of the $3.9 billion crossing.

Brian Conybeare, special project adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said the project's design and environmental teams were continuing to research the shared-use path concepts submitted by South Nyack residents and others with a stake in the outcome.

"It is crucial that we find a solution for parking and amenities and agree with Mayor Bonnie Christian that more residents would be able to attend a public meeting when the summer vacation season comes to a close after Labor Day," Conybeare wrote in an email.

Both Christian and Coker acknowledged there had been some community concern about holding a major meeting in the heart of summer. Attendance and interest could be stronger in the fall when most people returned to their normal routines, they said.

Jennifer Rothschild, who moved to the village less than two years ago, didn't have a problem with the meeting being delayed.

"It's considerate of them to postpone it so more people can attend," she said.